Machine for splitting leather



- AugfG, 1929 r.J.oKEE'FFE 1,723,201

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING LEATHER Filed Dec. 1l, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 n Figi l 'afa' inver-Tun ThomosdKeeFFe 'by an?"l Aug- 6, 1929- I T. J. oKEEFr-'E n I 1,723,201

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Thomas JO Kee-F fe Aug. 6, 1929. T. J. oKEEFFE 1,723,201

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING LEATHER Filed nec. 11. 1925 asume-sheet :s

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Patented Aug. 6, 1929.

UNITED STATES P 1,723,201 A'TENT l OFFICE.

f THOMAS J. oxnnnnn, or erinnerten, Messnennsnr'rs, essienon, BY MESNE AssIGN- MENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING LEATIIER.

Application filed December 11, 1925. Serial No. 74,769.

This invention relates to splitting machines of the general type shown in Letters Patent No. 1,260,436, granted March 25, 1918 upon an application filed in my naine, and one obliect of the present invention is to provide an improved machine of this type which is adapted for use either as a leather' Whitening and buiiing machine or as a splitting machine. Although the invention may be en'ib'odicd in machines capable of a variety of uses, there is herein shown a construction which is particularly adapted for bui'ling` the heel portion of an insole by cutting, olif a thin layer from the grain side thereof and then splitting said heel portion to form` a nail-covering flap adapted to cover the nails which are used in nailing the heel to the shoe. n

yIn order to give an understending?T ofthe invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which Will now be described after which the novel features Will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the ydrawings Fig'. 1 is a side vieivof a machine embodying my invention;

2y is a section on theline 2-2, Fig. -i showing;` the machine as used in builiug the heel portion of an insole; c

Fig. y3is la view similar to 'Figi'. the machine as used for splitting heel portion. of the insole;

' Fig. 4 is an yend elevation;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5, Fig. 1; Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views showing the manner in which `the machine operates; ,y v y Figs. 10 and 11 are views of an insole showingy the results accomplished by the machine.

The principal elements of the machine herein illustrated are similar tov those disclosed in the above-mentionedPatent No. 1,260,436. These area bed plate 1 havingr a gauging edge 2, a cutting knife 3 having a cutting edge 4t situated closely adjacent to the gaiug'-iiin` edge 2 showing1 the buffed 2 and a roll 5 which is of rubber or some other yieldingf in arterial and which subjects the Work or material to pressure as it is drawn acrosszsr the edge of the knife. Inthepresent embodi ment this roll 5 is also a feed roll which feeds the Work. f y

'Ihe'bedplate 1, knife 3 and roll 5 are car? ried on a suitable frame or support 6, the bed plate being adjustable vertically for the purpose of effecting a vertical adjustment of the gauging edge 2 by means of suitable yWedgze members 7 on Which the bed plate rests and one of which is operated by means of an adpisting screw 8. The knife 8 is shown as rest'- ing on across rpicce-9 of the frame and it will preferably be ,adjustablyy secured thereto in any suitable Wav. f

The parts thus far described operate simi larly to the corresponding' parts in the machine of the above-mei'itioned patent. When' ever a. piece of leather or other sheet material 11 is passed lunder the feed roll 5 and fed to the left the cutting1 edge f1 of the knife will f .:Tce of al piece'of leather and then to split said buffedportion, the buiiing being accomplished by cutting a thin Wafer-like shaving froma selected portion of the surface, said surface being usually the grainsurface.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I h'aveshown an insole 11 which has been thus treated. ,This insole has the surface 12 of the heel portion buil'ed asgshoivn bythe stippled portion, and subsequently the heel portion has been split t0 form the flap 13 which may be usedas a nail covering flap when the insole is built into a shoe, the purpose of this iiap being to cover the nails which unite the insole to the heel of the shoe.` y

Thcbufling of the portion 12 is secured by cuttingr athinwvaferdike layer 14 of uniform thickness from the surface of the heel portion and in the present machine the cut is started at the line 15 and is carried to the end of the heel.' The splitting of the heel on the other hand to produce the nail-covering flap 13 is done by commenciner at the end of the heelk crank arm 20 which is connected by a connecting rod 21 to a crank disk 22 that is suitably journalled in the frame at 28. This crank disk may be driven from any suitable source of power and is herein` shown as in the form of a gear which meshes with and is driven by a driving gear, not shown. The

` throw of the crank disk 22 is less than that of the crank 2O so that, as the crank disk rotates, the crank 2() and shaft 16 will have an oscillatory movement.

I will preferably provide means for adjusting the throw of both the crank disk and the crank so as to secure any desired amplitude of oscillation in theV feed roll 5. One simple way of accomplishing this is by providing the crank arm 20 with a dove tail slot 24 in which is adj ustably mounted a block 25 carrying a crank pin 26 to which the connecting rod 21 is secured. rThis crank pin is shown as having a screw-threaded portion 27 which screws through the block 25 and engages the bottom of t-he groove thereby locking the block in adjusted position. The crank pin 26 thus acts both as a crank pin and as a locking meansfor holding the block 25 in adj usted position.

A similar adjustable construction may be employedyfor connecting the connecting rod 21 to the crank disk 22.

The sequence of operations, which are carried out in treating the insole as shown in Figs. 10 and11, is illustrated in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive.V

In order to buff the heel end of the insole v said heel endis fed into the machine as shown in Fig. 6. During the rotation of the crank disk 22 from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 7 the yielding feed roll 5 will turn in the direction of the arrow in Y Fig. 6 and the heel end of the insole will be fed into the machine from the left. During this movement, of course, there will be no cutting action on the leather because the insole is moving away from the cutting edge. During the next half revolution ofthe crank disk 22 from the position shown in Fig. 7 back into the position shown in Fig. 6 the feed roll 5 will be moved in the direction of the arrow, in Fig. 7 and the insole 11 will be fed toward the left against the cutting edge 4t; and, during such movement, the thin wafer-like layer or shaving 14 will be cut from the face ofthe insole thus butting the latter. This cut iscommenced at the line 15 and is carried from the line 15 to the heel V end of the insole. Fig. V2 shows this operation of bufting the leat ier.

After the heel end of the insole has thus been buffed, the bed plate 1 is adjusted downward to provide more space between the gauging edge 2 and the edge l of the knife. The insole is then fed to the machine from the opposite side as shown in Fig. 8. During this feeding movement the heel end is fed agaiIlS heel end fed forward to its extreme limit whichV will be when the crank pin of the crank disk is on its left hand dead center. After the parts have reached the dead line position then continued rotation of the crank disk will reverse the direction of rotation of the feed roll 5 and will withdraw the heel of the insole from the knife so that the insole can be removed from the machine and when so removed it will have the flap 13 formed upon it as shown. Although, for convenience of explanation it has been stated above that, aft-er the heel end of the insole has been buffed in the manner shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the bed plate 1 is adjusted downwardly and then the insole is presented to the machine from the opposite side and operated upon as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 to form the fiap 13, it will be understood that, in actual practice, such frequent adjustment of the bed plate would not be desirable. Instead, a lot of insolcs are preferably first buffed, and then the bed plate is adjusted and the lot operated upon after the manner shown in Figs. 8 and 9 to form flaps upon them.

Although the invention has been set forth as embodied in a particular machine'and in connection with a particular kind of work, it should be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machine nor to the particular work which has been shown and described.

I claim:

1.y In a machine for splitting leather, the combinationwith a member having a fixed unyielding gauging edge, of a knife having its cutting edge situated closely adjacent said gauging edge, an internally-yieldable combined presser and feed roll situated to bear on the work at a point opposite the gauging edge, and means to rotate said roll first in one direction and then in the other.

2. In a machine for splitting leather, the combination with a member having a fixed unyielding gauging edge, of a knife having its cutting edge situated closely adjacent said gauging edge, an internally-yieldable combined presser and feed roll situated t0 bear on the work at a point opposite the gauging edge, a rotary driving member, and a connection between said driving member and roll by which the rotation of the driving member turns the roll first in one direction and then in the other.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a member having a fixed unyielding gauging edge, of a knife having its cutting edge situated closely adjacent the gauging edge, an internally-yieldable combined presser and feed roll, and means to operate the latter so as first to feed stock into llt) the machine for a predetermined distance in one direction and then to reverse the direction of feed and Withdraw the stock from the machine.

il. In a device of the class described, the combination with a member having a fixed unyielding gauging edge, of a knife having its cutting edge situated closely adjacent the gauging edge, an internallyyieldable combined presser and fed roll, and means to operate the latter so as to feed stock into the machine for a predetermined distance in a direction opposite to that required for cutting the stock and then to feed said stock in a direction toward the cutting edge.

5. In a machine for splitting leather, the combination With a member having an unyielding gaging edge, of a knife having its cutting edge located closely adjacent said gaging edge, a yieldable combined presser and feed roll located to bear on the Work at a point opposite said gaging edge, and mechanism for imparting oscillatory rotation to said roll to feed the Work to and Withdraw it from the edge of said knife.

6. In amachine for splitting leather, the the combination with a member having an 'unyield'ing gaging edge, of a knife having its cutting edge located closely adjacent said gaging edge, a yieldable combined presser' and .feed roll located to bear on the Work at a point opposite said gaging edge, mechanism for imparting oscillatory rot-ation to .said roll to feed the work to and Withdraw it from the edge of said knife, and means for adjusting said mechanism to vary the angle through which said rloll is rotated, thereby to vary the travel of the Work.

7. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a supporting member havin(r an unyielding gaging edge, a knife having its cutting edge located closely adjacent to said gaging edge, an internally yieldable combined presser and feed member located to bear upon the Work at a localityoppcsite to that engaged by the gaging edge, and means for moving the feed member iirst in a direction to feed the Work to the knife and then in a direction to Withdraw theavork from the knife.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

THOMAS J. OKEEFFE. 

